CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY EXPRESSION AND ART

THE ORGANIZATION REALIZES ITS MISSION BY DEVELOPING DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS THAT USE SOME OR ALL OF THE FACETS OF DOCUMENTARY WORK, WHICH IS DEFINED AS: ORAL HISTORIES, PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO, VISUAL ART, RESEARCH, ORAL STORYTELLING, AND NARRATIVE. A PROJECT MAY USE SOME OR ALL THE FEATURES OF DOCUMENTARY WORK. FOR EXAMPLE, A PROJECT MAY DEVELOP A TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT WITH AUDIO GUIDES AND A PUBLICATION; OR A PROJECT MAY RELY ON TRADITIONAL ORAL HISTORIES WITH ACCOMPANYING STILL PHOTOGRAPHS; OR A PROJECT MAY AIM TO PRODUCE A SERIES OF SHORT FILMS WITH A WEBSITE. THERE ARE MANY EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PRESENT DOCUMENTARY WORK. CDEA PROJECTS THAT PRODUCE TRAVELING EXHIBITS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY MULTI- FACETED, EDUCATION-OUTREACH PROGRAMS AND FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES: (1) MAJOR EXHIBITS CREATED FOR LARGE MUSEUMS THAT CONTAIN NATIONAL SUBJECT MATTER INFUSED WITH SIGNIFICANT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES, AND (2) EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITS DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR USE BY UTAH'S K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS, COMMUNITY CENTERS, LIBRARIES, AND SMALLER MUSEUMS THAT EXPLORE THE STATE'S AND NATION'S MULTI-CULTURAL HISTORY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. EXHIBITS TRAVELING INSIDE UTAH ARE PRESENTED UNDER THE TITLE PLACE-BASED EDUCATION (PBE) AND CONTAIN FOUR-TO-EIGHT-WEEK, PLACE-BASED, ARTISTS/SCHOLARS-IN- RESIDENCE (ASIR) PROGRAMS (PBE-ASIR). DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS RESULTING IN MAJOR EXHIBITS THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS RESULTING IN A MAJOR STAND-ALONE PUBLICATION, OR IN A TRAVELING EXHIBIT WITH BOOKS AND FILMS IS ONGOING. ON THE AVERAGE, DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS THAT RESULT IN A STAND-ALONE PUBLICATION OR IN A MAJOR EXHIBIT TAKE FOUR-TO-SIX YEARS TO RESEARCH, DEVELOP, DESIGN, AND PRODUCE. BETWEEN 2006-2011, THE ORGANIZATION COMPLETED A MAJOR EXHIBIT TITLED, THIS LIGHT OF OURS: ACTIVIST PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THIS PROJECT PRESENTED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT THROUGH THE WORK AND VOICES OF EIGHT MEN AND ONE WOMAN WHO DOCUMENTED THE NATIONAL STRUGGLE AGAINST SEGREGATION AND OTHER FORMS OF RACE-BASED DISENFRANCHISEMENT FROM WITHIN THE MOVEMENT. THE EXHIBIT INAUGURATED THE HUMAN RIGHTS GALLERY AT THE LEONARDO: AN ART, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER, IN DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE CITY, IN OCTOBER 2011, AND REMAINED AVAILABLE TO THE UTAH PUBLIC FOR NINE MONTHS, OR UNTIL JUNE 2012. THE PRESENTATION OF THIS LIGHT OF OURS INCLUDED CELL-PHONE ACCESSIBLE AUDIO GUIDES FOR YOUTH AND ADULTS; A FREE, SIX-PAGE BROCHURE FOR USE BY STUDENTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC; A 53PG CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR GRADES 7-12; AND A 251PG BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO ORGANIZED A MONTH-LONG SYMPOSIA AT THREE UTAH UNIVERSITIES AND A COMMUNITY COLLEGE INVOLVING LOCAL AND NATIONAL ACTIVISTS AND HISTORIANS. CDEA ALSO PARTNERED WITH UTAH'S PBS AFFILIATE, KUED-TV, TO CREATE UTAH'S FREEDOM RIDERS, A 30 MINUTE FILM PRESENTING UTAH'S CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS. MORE THAN 58,000 PEOPLE VISITED THE DISPLAY IN UTAH, WITH ABOUT THIRTY PERCENT OF VISITORS BEING K-16 STUDENTS. IN 2013, FOLLOWING THE EXHIBIT'S DEBUT, THE ORGANIZATION'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WAS RETAINED BY THE UTAH STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (USBE) TO CREATE AN EIGHT-WEEK, ON-LINE COURSE TO INTRODUCE UTAH PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. DIRECTOR KELEN HAS TAUGHT THE CLASS ON AN INTERMITTENT BASIS SINCE 2013. IN FALL 2013, THIS LIGHT OF OURS: ACTIVIST PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT STARTED TRAVELING OUTSIDE UTAH. A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD (2013- 2018) WAS SET ASIDE FOR THE EXHIBIT'S INITIAL NATIONAL TOUR. THIS TOURING PERIOD CULMINATED WITH THE EXHIBIT'S DISPLAY AT THE IRVING ARTS CENTER IN IRVING, TEXAS, BETWEEN JANUARY-MARCH 2018. IN MAY 2018, THE ORGANIZATION PARTNERED WITH THE MALTZ MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE, LOCATED IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, TO CARRY OUT A SECOND FIVE-YEAR TOUR. THE START OF THE TOUR WAS DELAYED BY THE 2019-2020 OUTBREAK OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, INTERFERING WITH THE FEBRUARY-AUGUST 2020 DISPLAY AT THE BULLOCK SATE HISTORY MUSEUM, IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. A SECOND NATIONAL TOUR IS EXPECTED TO CONCLUDE WITH THE DISPLAY OF THIS LIGHT OF OURS AT THE MALTZ MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE FROM OCTOBER 23, 2022 TO APRIL 2, 2023. A THIRD NATIONAL TOUR OF THIS LIGHT OF OURS KICKED OFF WITH THE DISPLAY'S PRESENTATION AT THE SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FROM OCTOBER 19 2023-FEBRUARY 25, 2024. NEW DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS SINCE 2016-17, THE ORGANIZATION HAS CONDUCTED RESEARCH AIMED AT DEVELOPING TWO INTERRELATED PROJECTS. THE FIRST IS A BOOK-PUBLICATION PROJECT TITLED, BECOMING AN AMERICAN IN UTAH: AN ORAL HISTORY-20TH AND 21ST CENTURY VOICES FROM UTAH'S DIVERSE COMMUNITIES. THIS PROJECT WILL SELECT CONTENT FROM HUNDREDS OF ORAL HISTORIES THE ORGANIZATION TAPED BETWEEN 1982-1989, 1998- 2003, AND 2021-2024 IN ORDER TO CONVEY THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY STORIES OF UTAH'S DIVERSE PEOPLE. BECOMING AN AMERICAN IN UTAH: AN ORAL HISTORY INVOLVES REEDITING, EXPANDING, AND REDESIGNING THE ORGANIZATION'S FOUNDATIONAL BOOK, MISSING STORIES: AN ORAL HISTORY OF ETHNIC AND MINORITY GROUPS IN UTAH, WHICH WAS PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PRESS IN 1995 AS A PART OF UTAH'S STATE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS. UNLIKE MISSING STORIES, WHICH USED ORAL HISTORIES TO PRESENT EIGHT SEPARATE 20TH CENTURY COMMUNITY PROFILES, BECOMING AN AMERICAN IN UTAH: AN ORAL HISTORY WILL USE A GEOGRAPHIC/CHRONOLOGICAL/THEMATIC FORMAT TO DEVELOP A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY UTAH LIFE. THE PROJECT'S AIM IS TO PRODUCE A BOOK THAT HAS BROAD APPEAL TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. CDEA AIMS TO COMPLETE THE CURRENT BOOK-IN-PROGRESS BY JUNE 2027. A SECOND (AND INTERRELATED ENDEAVOR) IS TITLED, MY AMERICA: STORIES OF UTAH'S IMMIGRANTS, MIGRANTS, AND REFUGEES. MY AMERICA IS CONCEIVED OF AS A SERIES OF SHORT (UNDER 8-MIN.) VIDEOS THAT NARRATE THE STORIES OF IMMIGRANTS, MIGRANTS, AND REFUGEES WHO LEFT THEIR PLACES OF ORIGIN IN THE 1924-1965 AND 1965 TO-THE PRESENT PERIODS AND RELOCATED TO UTAH BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, GOVERNMENT COMPULSION, OR TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION. THE ORGANIZATION AIMS TO USE THESE VIDEOS ON A WEBSITE THAT FEATURES BECOMING AN AMERICAN IN UTAH: AN ORAL HISTORY IN ORDER TO INTRODUCE THE SUBJECT OF MIGRATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. NEW EXHIBIT ON APRIL 12, 2022, CDEA ACQUIRED A FORTY-IMAGE EXHIBIT OF BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS WITH DIDACTIC TEXT FROM JEANNINE HERRON, THE WIDOW OF THE LATE CIVIL RIGHTS PHOTOGRAPHER, MATT HERRON. HERRON DIED ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020, WHEN HIS GLIDER PLANE CRASHED ABOUT 125 MILES NORTHWEST OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. HE WAS THE CURATOR OF THE CDEA MAJOR EXHIBIT, THIS LIGHT OF OURS: ACTIVIST PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AND A HIGHLY-REGARDED DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER, WITH A UNIQUE BODY OF WORK COMPLETED DURING THE 1960S CIVIL RIGHTS ERA. HERRON PRINTED AND CURATED THE 40-IMAGE EXHIBIT-I'M WALKIN' FOR MY FREEDOM-IN 2019, AND IN EARLY 2020 THE EXHIBIT WENT ON DISPLAY AT THE SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY. EXHIBIT PHOTOS DEPICT THE HISTORICALLY PIVOTAL SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCH LED BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. THE 54-MILE MARCH TOOK PLACE IN MARCH 1965 AND WAS CREDITED WITH MOVING THE U.S. CONGRESS TO PASS THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS BILL, CONSIDERED THE MOST IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION OF THAT PERIOD. HERRON CONSIDERED HIS COVERAGE OF THE MARCH AS ONE OF HIS MOST SIGNIFICANT PHOTOGRAPHIC ACHIEVEMENTS. CDEA IS HONORED TO PLAY A ROLE IN FURTHERING MATT HERRON'S LEGACY AS AN ACTIVIST PHOTOGRAPHER AND TO USE THE EXHIBIT TO EXPAND A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT PROTECTING VOTING RIGHTS IN THE U.S. IN MARCH 2022, THE ORGANIZATION CONTRACTED WITH THE SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY, MUSEUM OF ART, TO DEBUT THE FORTY-IMAGE EXHIBIT IN UTAH AS A PART OF THE SUMMER 2022 SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. I'M WALKIN' FOR MY FREEDOM WAS DISPLAYED AT THE CEDAR CITY MUSEUM FROM JUNE 2 TO SEPTEMBER 22, 2022, AND RECEIVED MORE THAN 13,500 VISITORS. VENUES IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE ARE EXPECTED TO BE UTAH PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS. CDEA RECENTLY CONTRACTED WITH THE SALT LAKE CITY DOWNTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY TO DISPLAY "I'M WALKIN' FOR MY FREEDOM" AT THE LIBRARY FROM OCTOBER 25, 2025 TO DECEMBER 5, 2025.